Best reliable guided tours for colosseum

I have done a guided tour a couple times but it was formed on site in front of Colosseum. I did not have any tickets and noticed the line was really long. There were tour guides roaming around noticing people like me and approached and asked if we wanted to join their tour. We said yes and joined with about 10 other people. They whisked up around back and we got right in with their tour guide pass. It cost a little more but it was worth it to not wait in line. When we went back a few years later we did the same thing.....just hung out in front looking around and connected with another tour guide and went through the same process. It is definitely a great option if you don't have tickets.

Charles, how long ago was the last time you did this? Now that advance, timed-entry reservations are mandatory for everyone, including tours, I definitely wouldn't count on picking up a tour from someone hanging around outside.

jyoungseidemann, personally I think the best option for general entry tickets is to go to the NEW on-site Parco Colosseo/Coopculture ticket office before it opens in the morning (9:00), get in line, and buy them there. Someone over on TripAdvisor said that they do not sell tickets for tours of the underground but they were able to land a tour that included the arena. Tour or not, I'd just take anything at all that they have as quantities are limited. Use this link for info but only during the hours, Rome time, the Colosseum is open: it doesn't work when the park is closed.

https://colosseo.it/en/2023/05/ticket-office-opening-colosseum-square/

Thanks Charles & Kathy. I was hoping to avoid the day-of ticket line, but perhaps that's what we'll have to do. Does anyone else have recommendations for reliable tours of the colosseum/forum/palatine hill that I can book in advance?

Does anyone else have recommendations for reliable tours of the
colosseum/forum/palatine hill that I can book in advance?

Here's the situation as I'm best able to grasp it just by watching/combing many, many recent threads both here and on TA about Colosseum ticketing.

The Coopculture tickets are difficult to get. Not impossible but difficult, and it can be very time-consuming to try and do that. The advice I'm seeing from others "in the know" (There is a 38-page thread on TA regarding Colosseum ticketing) is to go for any tour that does NOT include the underground. That goes for tours offered by the independent companies.

Coopculture does not offer a guided tour of the Colosseum, Forum and Palatine. If you want a tour that includes all three, you need to book through an outside company. Booking one which includes all three sites but NOT the Colosseum underground is your best option for avoiding cancellation. The companies which seem to get the most mentions inclusive tours of all 3 on this forum are Walks of Italy, The Roman Guy and Through Eternity. That's off top of my head.

Another detail about buying Coopculture Colosseum entry tickets at the new onsite office: those are same-day entry tickets, your party needs to be present at time of purchase and ready to be admitted soon after purchase, Reports are that you can't buy them for the next day and/or not for individuals who are not with you.

Regarding buying from roving tour sellers near the site:
Charles, thanks for your PM and confirming that your last experience was in 2019. The reason I wouldn't "count on" that option is that I've not seen it recommended by anyone else on any reasonably recent forum thread - either here or on TA - nor from anyone on those forums who've recently done it, not that a random mention couldn't have been missed. There was also a reported crackdown of illegal ticket sellers right around the time you bought your tour off the street so, well, I just wouldn't personally trust that option, not to say that yours was of the illegal sort. :O)

https://www.wantedinrome.com/news/rome-cracks-down-on-illegal-trading-at-colosseum.html

Hi Kathy,
Thanks so much! Yes, I tried every single tour offered through Coopculture, but they were all booked. I'll look into Walks of Italy, The Roman Guy, and Through Eternity. Otherwise, we'll have to take out chances with the same-day tickets.

I just searched the most recent threads on the guided tours not from Coopculture and it's quite discouraging. Many people reporting cancelled tours because the companies are selling tickets before they actually have them: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/colosseum-forum-palatine-hill-tour-canceled-6-days-out-by-the-roman-guy-tours-any-options

Many people reporting cancelled tours because the companies are
selling tickets before they actually have them:

Most, if not ALL, of those cancelled tours involved the Colosseum underground. That's why I recommend booking anything that does NOT include that piece to better avoid cancellation. It's such a small part of the larger picture that you won't be missing much. You can see down into the exposed lower level from general-entry areas above, and the Palatine and Forum are plenty interesting.

We will be in Rome in mid September. We have tickets for the Vatican Necropolis of St. Peter’s Basilica tour.

We were in Rome several years ago but just wandered around on our own. This time, we thought a tour would provide us more information.
We are interested in tours of the Colosseum, Forum, Palatine Hill and the Vatican.

Would anyone recommend “Walks of Italy” tours or others?

We also are interested in the Eating Italy Twilight Trastevere Food Tour.
Any information is appreciated! Thanks!

Thank you for this info. Was planning on the underground with my family of 6. Now I know to avoid that!

Our experience 10/2/2023, and some advice - We booked a Colosseum and Forum tour (not underground tour) with Viator about two months prior to our trip to Rome, and it got cancelled about 72 hours prior to when it was supposed to start. I booked another one on Viator immediately when I got the cancellation notice, but it said "Pending Confirmation" from the tour operator. Viator said the operator has 48 hours to confirm the booking. I then emailed the tour operator directly, no response, and Viator customer service via their WhatsApp messenger (they said they couldn't reach the tour operator, and it was still up to them). 48 hours passed and we still didn't get confirmation, and we were about 18 hours from the booking. I booked a 3rd one, just in case, at a different time of the same day. A few hours after booking the 3rd one, they cancelled it saying they overbooked. We then got a cancellation notice from the 2nd one. I booked a 4th one, this is now less than 16 hours from when it's supposed to start (Monday morning at 9:30), and it too said "Pending Confirmation".

So, using the Viator app, we just showed up to the spot (made sure we had the name of the tour operator from the Viator website confirmation - the app confirmation did NOT have that info). Our names weren't on the list, so we waited while they checked everyone else. While waiting, I got an email via Viator from the operator that this 4th one was also cancelled, but I didn't tell the guy on the sidewalk. I just kept showing him my Viator app booking reference #. We waited until they knew who was/wasn't there for the tour, and was told they cancelled our booking. I then said, "Well, you have spots, and we're trying to pay, so how do we get in?" The guy looked at the amount Viator was charging us and said we could buy the tickets from them directly. I paid using my GooglePay app right then and there and we joined the tour. The group we went with is www.TourInTheCity.com, and Andrea was our tour guide. He was the very best tour guide we've had among all of the tours we've taken during the last two weeks in France, Switzerland, and now Italy. I'd recommend booking with them directly.

Way too many companies overbook their spots, and don't always update their bookings via Viator or GetYourGuide (which I've read has less cancellations than Viator - not sure how/why). Also, they all buy, or try to buy, tickets sold via the official Colosseum site, and often sell spots when they don't yet have the tickets. It's a huge crapshoot with so many companies and 3rd party sellers snatching tickets. The biggest issue is the Colosseum. You can get a Forum Pass SUPER Ticket which includes everything BUT the Colosseum, and extras not included with tours, directly at https://colosseo.it/en/tickets/forum-pass-super-ticket/. It's the Colosseum tickets that are hard to get, and cause mass cancellations among tour companies. None of the 4 tours that were booked or pending and then cancelled were underground tours. Another tip - book the Early Morning Tour whenever possible. It's HOT in Italy, even in October, and there are not a lot of trees for shade. Side note - the Segway Rome City Tour was so much fun! We did that a couple hours after the Colosseum tour and loved it.

Jenny:

We used Raffa as a private tour guide for 2 half days in Rome in early Sept.
She is excellent, professional, very bright and speaks English well.

i highly recommend her.

raffaella.oliva82@gmail.com

Hope this helps, Fred

I too am trying to purchase colosseum tickets on Coopculture, to no success. Just refreshing the page every half hour. all day. I have a 4 day window... and each day.. nothing. lol I checked some of the suggestions, Walks of Italy, the Roman Guy, and Viator, but these are double the price, if not triple the price! Thats such a bummer that there is no way to purchase face value tickets. I dont like feeling that I'm getting scammed. Guess I'll try day of, unless there is something else I am missing. Plenty else to see though.